Mayor proud of the work done to make Wetaskiwin better

Finishing my first calendar year as Mayor of Wetaskiwin, I reflect back; first on how quickly the time went and second, how much more I want to accomplish during my first term as Mayor.

I feel even more strongly now than I did during the campaign on how important it is that we, who live here, take ownership of the community and shape Wetaskiwin into what we want it to be.

2018 had its ups and downs. We saw some new businesses start and existing expand as well as new development in the City. We also saw some of our businesses close.

We continue to see road overlays, sidewalk builds and repairs like never before.

Wetaskiwin is behind on its infrastructure, but we will work hard to change that.

I am proud of the work this Council is doing to ensure that our City will be better than when we started. By no means will this be an easy task.

One of the biggest changes was bringing back the local improvement levy. It brought hundreds of people to the Memorial Arts Centre for an open house to express their concerns and to get a better understanding of what it would mean for them if they lived on a street included in the local improvement policy.

Another big story for Wetaskiwin was being listed as number 1 on the Crime Severity Index in Alberta and 3rd in Canada. I know that statistics don’t define a community, but this was not good for encouraging growth in our City. We are working hard with the RCMP to help lower our stats as well as making sure people feel safe living and working in Wetaskiwin. I will also be working with Alberta Health Services to bring more services to help with addictions and mental illness.

There was a lot of work that went into the legalization of cannabis on a municipal level. Policies and bylaws set up through public consultation, open houses and online surveys.

We started to build and mend relationships with our neighbouring municipalities.

I was elected to the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association (AUMA) Board of Directors for Cities under 500,000 and appointed to the Alberta Municipal Services Corporation (AMSC) Board of Governors.

In 2018, Wetaskiwin was host to a lot of great events!

The Wetaskiwin Fire Service’s Fire Gala

Arts & Music Festival

2 outdoor movies

Canada Day Celebrations and Fireworks

NASCAR Weekend

The Largest ADOA Conference to Date

Taste of Wetaskiwin

Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast

Santa Claus Parade & Winter Warm-Up Weekend

We will continue to build Wetaskiwin and plan for the future.

On behalf of Wetaskiwin City Council, I would like to wish you all the best in 2019.